Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has dismissed a nine-word injury update on Hoops players as “absolutely everything”, adding to concerns surrounding Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Rodgers gets hit by Carter-Vickers on return to Celtic
The Hoops picked up an important win in the Europa League on Thursday night, beating Sturm Graz 2-1 at home, bouncing back from last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.
After the match, Rodgers praised his Celtic side’s performance at Parkhead, appearing more positive than he has been for much of the season so far.
“I thought we were great in this game. I said up front that when the pressure is on, it can go two ways. Sometimes you progress and sometimes you collapse. The performance of the players showed that they made a lot of progress tonight. We really dominated a very good team in Sturm Graz. You can see the goals they scored and their physical strength.”
“I said before that there are always games in the season that can be turning points, but I think we had an all-round performance tonight against a good team. We have to bounce back now because we have an important game on Sunday and we have to bring the same energy and focused mentality to that game.”
Thursday’s win was a welcome blow for Celtic, but they were once again thrown into turmoil with the news that Carter-Vickers has an Achilles problem and could be out for several months.
Rodgers admitted the blow ahead of Sunday’s trip to Hearts, revealing the exact timetable is still uncertain but it’s “not great news” and that may not be the only concern…
Iheanacho’s injury ‘looks like a hamstring’
Rodgers also provided the media with a worrying nine-word injury update on Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho. “It doesn’t look good. It looks like a hamstring.”
The Hoops manager added: “We’ll see where it is, but it’s like a hamstring, so it’s not very good. I’m not worried about (depth). All I’m really worried about is how we played tonight, and that’s our focus. We’ll see how it goes in the morning, and if they’re out…we’ll just have to accept the injury.”
Celtic face Hearts in the Scottish Premiership at lunchtime on Sunday, with the latter sitting top of the table with a five-point lead over the reigning champions.
It will be a huge blow for the Hoops to miss out on both their starting No. 9 and top centre-half for such an important game, and Rodgers praised the Nigerian star, who he spent time with at Leicester City.
“To be fair, he’s a nightmare in training. He’s just a big, strong player who can express himself. He’s fast and has everything to be a top striker. And he’s showing that now, which is great.”
With Iheanacho almost certainly absent for the game against Hearts, whether other Celtic attackers will be in the stands will depend on the summer signing having already scored twice in three league games this season.